WEEK IN REVIEW: May 25-31

There are many risks associated with storing gold within the banking system, namely the risk of bankruptcy or government confiscation. But there is also a more complex risk related to the price manipulation.

In light of such developments, it is little wonder there has been increasing chatter in recent months that Russia and China are setting the stage for a gold-backed currency, in preparation for the day the Dollar reserve hegemony finally ends.

Finance chiefs from the Group of Seven industrial nations agreed on Friday that including China's renminbi in the International Monetary Fund's currency basket is desirable, but a technical review must be completed first.

The U.S. Justice Department has recently granted UBS immunity in a criminal investigation of "manipulation of, or fraud in" the gold and silver markets. Why a serious Justice Department investigation now? Precious metals expert Bill Murphy says, "I am so skeptical after all these years, and it's a question of where they go with this."

Yes there is more gold that the 373,000 ounces currently marked for delivery in all the warehouses. But that gold is merely there in storage by its owners, so counting it towards delivery, without the prior consent of the owner, is a bit presumptuous to say the least.

The big "buzz" over the weekend in the precious metals community was about the enormous short position in paper gold and silver taken by the bullion banks per the weekly COT report, published by the CFTC. The short position taken on by the big banks blew out by 54,832 contracts, which is the biggest one-week increase in history.

For the first time in the history of gold smuggling in India, the seizure in illicit trade has crossed Rs 1,000 crore mark in one financial year with customs, police and revenue agencies seizing more than 3,500 kg of gold in 2014-15.

Have you noticed the trend in mainstream headlines over the past week? The gold price may be stagnant, but forces behind the scenes signal that something big is gelling. What conclusion would you draw from this rundown of recent headlines? China Creates Gold Investment Fund for Central Banks.

Our editing team, cumulating many years of experience, wishes to bring to the investors as much information as possible to help them in taking decisions independently and objectively when investing in the precious metals sector.
We also regularly publish interviews with fund managers and independent specialists and analysts to let our readers and our investing clients further their analyses of the precious metals markets. We also provide translations of several articles for that purpose.